


Ricktect and Serve

by flibbertygigget



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Discrimination, Discussion Of Murder, Discussion of Violence, Episode: s03e07 The Ricklantis Mixup, Gen, Unintentional Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 10:58:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12529784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flibbertygigget/pseuds/flibbertygigget
Summary: "For fuck's sake, you've seen my record! You know what happened. You know what I did. So why the fuck did you let me go?"Cop Rick and President Morty reach an understanding. President Morty makes a decision that will change the future of the Citadel.





	Ricktect and Serve

When Cop Rick entered the President's office, he didn't know what to expect.

That fact that he had been invited personally, by dimension number and everything, made him nervous. At the same time, it had been their new president who had, for whatever fucked up reason, let him go after he had murdered his partner. Hell, Cop Rick had even been promoted in the few short months since them, promoted to a position that he felt anything but qualified for. So he had no idea what President Morty wanted or what he thought of him, and the ramrod straight back that stood silhouetted in the window was giving him no clues.

"R-Rick R-321. You asked to see me, sir?" President Morty turned, staring almost absentmindedly into his whiskey.

"Ah, R-321. Please, have a seat." Cop Rick did so, but President Morty remained standing. "I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to come see me today." Cop Rick nodded. "I assure you, it's nothing serious. In fact, by the time I'm done speaking I'm sure you'll be celebrating." Cop Rick tasted burning puke at the back of his mouth. "I have to say, I never thought I would be so impressed by a Rick Cop's treatment of Mortys." Cop Rick couldn't stay silent any longer.

"Um, permission to speak, sir?" he said. President Morty smiled.

"Of course." Cop Rick swallowed down the bile, holding on to the certainty that he was doing the right thing.

"With all due respect, sir, whatever commendation or w-whatever you're going to talk to me about is bullshit." President Morty's eyebrows furrowed together.

"And why is that?"

"For fuck's sake, you've seen my record!" The ghost of what happened at The Creepy Morty, always present, forced its way to the forefront of Cop Rick's mind. "You know what I did. I let my partner blow up the Mortytown Locos, I let him interrogate and murder Big Morty, and to put a big turd cherry on the whole shit cake I shot him, too. I ought to be orbiting the Citadel, not - not - not getting fucking promotions!" President Morty stared at him. Cop Rick was breathing hard, half up from his chair. "You know what happened. You know what I did. So why the fuck did you let me go?" To Cop Rick's utter shock, President Morty began to laugh.

"Oh, man, you really don't know, do you?" he said through the giggles.

"Sir?"

"R-321, do you know the likelihood of a cop turning himself in like that?" Cop Rick shook his head. "None. It's never happened before in the history of the Citadel." President Morty sat across from Cop Rick, studying him with something like wonder. It was the first time in the entire meeting that Cop Rick could get a glimpse of President Morty's actual age. "So what do you think I thought when you did what you did?"

"I don't know, sir," Cop Rick said. "I-It shouldn't matter, anyways. I fucked up in the worst way; I should be punished for it."

"Maybe you should, maybe you shouldn't. All I know is that I've lived in the Citadel for years. I thought I knew Ricks. They're immoral, impulsive, and above all else they don't care about Mortys. But you - you're different. You care about departmental codes and common decency. You hesitated to kill your partner, hesitated so long that it needs up being too late to save Big Morty. And that's just the point - you care. You care about Mortys in a way that Ricks don't, in a way that even I can't." President Morty took a deep breath. "And I called you here today because I want to know why."

"Why?" Cop Rick said, feeling lost. President Morty nodded. "I don't know, it's just right. It's the right thing to do-"

"But that doesn't matter!" President Morty slammed his hands down on the table. "Nothing matters! You're a Rick, you should know that. The universe is huge and pointless and - and there's no sense of right or wrong in it. You're the smartest man in the universe, so why do you pretend that anything matters at all?"

"Because," Cop Rick paused, gathering his thoughts. President Morty waited, fists clenched, entire body quivering in anger or anticipation or both. "Because when nothing matters, all that matters is what you do. T-There might not be any real value of right and wrong, but I know what I think is right. And I know that a Citadel that hurts Mortys, stratifies Ricks arbitrarily, and lets me get away with doing what I did isn't a Citadel I want to live in. A-And I know I can't do much to change it, I'm just one mid-level Rick after all, but I can do what I can to change things." Cop Rick took his badge, the symbol of the Citadel, and placed it on the desk in front of President Morty. "I resign. I-I don't deserve that badge, not after what I did."

"Geez," President Morty breathed out. His hand trembled as he picked up the badge. He looked up at Cop Rick. "Do you have a Morty?" Cop Rick shook his head.

"Mine d-died in the C-137 Incident. I was found unsuitable - They said I was too far off the Central Finite Curve to be assigned one."

"I see," President Morty said. He fiddled with the badge for a moment before pushing it back to Cop Rick. "Keep it."

"What?"

"I said keep it! I don't accept your resignation." President Morty stood and stared out the window, turning his back to Cop Rick in a clear dismissal. "I don't give a shit w-what you think you deserve or don't deserve. I have plans for this Citadel, R-123. Before I met you, they - but that doesn't matter. My plans as they are now need you, and I have no intention of letting you leave your position."

"B-But sir, I-"

"I don't give a shit. You're one of-of a handful of Ricks I've ever met that gives half a shit about Mortys. If you think I'm about to let you end up a faceless Rick at some factory, you have another thing coming." President Morty turned, and the expression on his face was hauntingly familiar to Cop Rick. It was the same look his Morty had worn when deciding to take on galaxies for the sake of Rick and his adventures. "I'm giving you a chance to change the Citadel for good. You said that all that matters is what you do. You said that you wanted to do the right thing. Well, here's your chance. Are you with me?"

Cop Rick nodded. It would have been wrong to do otherwise.


End file.
